Distance
by Morgan Steelgrave
Summary: Ryo tries to uncover the reason behind Touma's sudden quiet mood...and it's the last person he expected.


Yeah, okay, so this is a little off the wall. That's me in a nutshell. I just thought it was a little odd, how there was so much contact between our precious little Warrior of the Strata and the mega cool psycho bitch from hell, and there are only like TWO fics that elaborate on it! So here it is, my two cents.  
  
I use the original Japanese names in this fic. I dunno why. So in case you don't know, Ryo=Ryo (well, duh ^_~), Seiji=Sage, Shin=Sai/Cye, Shuu=Kento, and Touma=Rowen. Nasutei=Mia, Jun=Yuli/Chibi Satan, Arago=Talpa, Sh'ten=Anubis, and I think that's about it.  
  
~blah~ Thoughts  
  
RW/YST is copyright its respective owners, but this story is MINE! If you want to post it, please ask permission first! Arigato!  
  
  
  
=== "Distance" - An RW/YST Fic by Morgan Steelgrave ===  
  
  
  
Ryo glanced over at Touma, a puzzled scowl creeping across his brow to match the one on his blue-haired friend's face. They sat together in the deceptively beautiful field in which they'd found themselves when they entered the gates to the Nether Realm, resting before they began their journey to Arago's castle. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was, since the sky was always that same golden color lit dimly by the three crescent moons. Touma was sitting off a short distance from where Ryo was leaning against Byakouen, staring off at the orbs hung low in the sky. His solemn profile was lit faintly by the perpetual golden twilight, the stubborn forelock of dark blue hair waving in the feeble breeze.  
  
Touma had been acting strange lately, though Ryo couldn't put his finger on it. Sometimes he would have to repeat things he said because his friend had tuned out the outside world and retreated to the inner sanctum of his thoughts. Granted, Touma had never been one to chat incessantly, but he had never been so brusque and strictly-business before, either. He spoke only when necessary, and even then his comments were reserved and to-the-point. Ryo knew there wasn't anything physically wrong with his brilliant friend, but there was obviously something on his mind. It bothered Ryo that Touma wouldn't tell him what was troubling him. They were in this whole thing together, after all, and if something was that important then he should definitely share it. Ryo was feeling the absence of Nasutei and Jun more than he ever had before, probably because he didn't have the other guys, either. As annoying and prone to lecturing as she could be at times, Ryo missed Nasutei's calm, mediating presence and her level-headed approach to things.  
  
"Sumimasen...Touma?" Ryo ventured. Surprisingly enough, he didn't have to call his name more than once before Touma turned to face him, stormy blue eyes enigmatic and faraway.  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"Do you think they're suffering much?" Ryo decided to try a different topic first, and then ease into finding out what was on Touma's mind. The condition of their friends being held captive by the Dark Realm, touchy subject though it was for both of them, was a safe path to take. After a moment of silence and baited breath on Ryo's part, the Warrior of Tenku took the bait.  
  
"I don't know, Ryo. I sure hope not." Touma looked down at the ground. Ryo nudged him a little further in the conversation.  
  
"I've been thinking about it a lot. I can't keep it out of my head, what Lady Kayura showed us at the lake in front of Nasutei's house. They looked like they were in so much pain..." Ryo's voice caught in his throat. He looked over at Touma, who seemed to have gone off into his trance again. Painful as it was to voice these thoughts aloud, Ryo kept up the conversation to try to hold Touma in the real world. "That Kayura. She looks like she's going to be worse than the other Masho. Even they weren't so...cold. At least we know something about them. We know nothing about Kayura. She's definitely more dangerous than she looks, don't you think, Touma?"  
  
No answer. Touma had retreated back into his silent trance.   
  
~This is really starting to get strange,~ Ryo thought. Well, if talking wouldn't get Touma to open up, maybe using the telepathic link forged by their armors would make him explain his actions. Ryo narrowed his bright blue eyes and opened his mind. The sense of aching helplessness and loneliness he felt upon reaching Touma shocked him. He hadn't expected to find something like that.  
  
Touma flinched visibly when he felt Ryo touch his mind. He jerked his head around to stare at Ryo, turbulent blue eyes stunned and hurt, and more than a little angry at the intrusion into his private thoughts and emotions. Upon seeing his friend's reaction, Ryo retreated hastily, unsure of what to do or say. Touma stood up, looking down reproachfully at Ryo, his voice quavering with indignation.  
  
"Listen, Ryo, I didn't ask for your help, or for your concern. It's none of your business. You had no right to just barge in on my thoughts like that."  
  
"Touma, come on. I'm just worried about you, that's all. It's not like you to be all withdrawn and quiet like this. I didn't realize you felt so helpless..." Ryo trailed off. ~Baka, baka, baka.~ He had been too busy wallowing in his own loneliness to notice Touma's. It wasn't really that Ryo was lonely, exactly, it was that he missed Nasutei in particular. He liked her as a friend and loved her for standing by him and the others after everything they'd been through, but it wasn't the same as it had been when they had fought Arago for the first time. Then he'd had some silly crush on her, and he thought for a while that she returned it, though Nasutei got over it a lot more quickly than he had. At the thought of all this, Ryo felt his cheeks stain crimson and forced himself to focus on the task at hand, that of apologising to Touma and finding out why they had been losing touch.  
  
"Look, Touma, I'm sorry for butting in like that. You're right, I shouldn't have done it. But if there's something bothering you, please, tell me. Believe it or not, I understand what it feels like to watch someone you care about suffer, and you're powerless to stop it," he said, thinking of how inept and betrayed he'd felt when his swords shattered under the duress of the Kikkoutei armor. Touma seemed to sense Ryo's thoughts, and he appeared to calm down somewhat. Ryo grinned. Touma returned it, sitting back down beside him.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just a little on edge right now, I guess. And thinking about...well, it just doesn't help very much." The two friends clasped their armored hands in a grip of truce and smiled."Hey, I understand completely. You might be all I have left, pal, as much as I hate to admit it. We've got to stick together." Ryo slapped Touma on the back and fell backwards into the grass, folding his arms behind his head. "I know what you're going through, though. Promise you won't laugh?"  
  
Touma cocked one eyebrow up near his headband and nodded once. Ryo stared straight up into the strange yellow sky.  
  
"I miss Nasutei." Touma turned his head and squinted back at him, trying to hide his smirk. Ryo noticed it anyway, and hit him half- heartedly. "Not like that, baka. I just...well, you know. She was the first person I ever really liked like that, and even though I know nothing will ever come of it and we're just friends now, it hurts just the same to be away from her."  
  
"Yeah, but at least you two are friends, Ryo. You still have that."  
  
"I guess so. It's hard to do this without her. And it must be awful to put up with me without her to help you." Ryo grinned up at Touma. The Warrior of Tenku smiled ruefully, rolling his eyes.  
  
"You have no idea." The two laughed, grateful for a moment of ease in their difficult and oppressive quest for the freedom of mankind. It occurred to Ryo that Touma had never actually said what he was so lonely about, or what or whom he missed. Ryo decided to take what he could get and leave the subject alone for the time being. He sat up and patted Byakouen on the nose, the tiger gifting him with a low purr.  
  
"Well, now that we're at least talking, we might as well figure out what we're going to do about Arago and the rest of Evil-doers Anonymous."  
  
"Wow, Ryo, are you saying you actually want to come up with a plan? Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Touma grinned. Ryo shot him a death glare and continued.  
  
"Anyway, I figure we can deal with the Masho if we have to. We've done it before, we can do it again. And by the time we'll have to face Arago himself, we should have freed the others. If I need to, I can use the Kikkoutei, right?"  
  
"We're there for you, Ryo. It might be tough, but we can handle Arago." Ryo smiled at the encouragement from his fellow Trooper, but then another thought crossed his mind.  
  
"Aa, but what about Kayura?" There was a moment of silence on Touma's part.  
  
"She's too strong for the two of us alone, Ryo. You know that, don't you?" Touma had a sort of urgent glint in his stormy cobalt eyes that made Ryo wonder if the blue-headed warrior was really addressing this statement to himself in order to assert his own understanding of their predicament.  
  
"I know. But we can't let that stop us, Touma. If we have to face her, we've got to give it our best shot. Maybe we'll get lucky if we fight hard enough." Ryo felt as if Touma needed reassuring, like he needed a shove in the right direction. Maybe he was having second thoughts about rescuing Shuu, Shin, and Seiji. It wasn't like Touma to second-guess himself. Ryo was pondering how best to shore up his friend's confidence when Touma quietly interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"You should have seen her when I first met her, Ryo. She was brutal. I don't know how many times I shot at her, and I should have hit her. But I didn't." Ryo was about to say that Touma shouldn't let it get him down, but the Warrior of Tenku went on, "You know what the strangest part was? Those flowers. The ones that are always blowing around when she appears. They're so delicate, so pretty, but then she's standing there, and she just cuts you down like you're the scum, like you're nothing. God, Ryo, how can something so beautiful be so cold?" Touma ran a hand frustratedely through his short blue hair.  
  
"I don't know, Touma. She works for Arago. That's why." Ryo was just as confused as Touma as to what the blue warrior was feeling. He was at a total loss; the words of comfort he knew were needed were simply not there.  
  
"And that attack of hers. Man, Arago's trained her well, that's for sure. Starlight Swords," he trailed off, looking up at the sky. "That's what she's like. The stars. They're beautiful like that, but they're so far away that they're impossible to touch. That's what Kayura is like." There was a strange gleam in his eyes, somewhere beneath that obstinate lock of hair.  
  
It hit Ryo suddenly from somewhere deep in his mind that he'd had that same look on his own face just moments before at the thought of Nasutei. ~Touma is in love with Lady Kayura.~ Ryo stared at his friend, shocked at the revelation, unsure if he should console him or beat him back to his senses. This was Kayura he was mooning over! She could probably crush them without a second thought if she wanted to!  
  
~Hai, I know,~ came Touma's voice inside Ryo's mind. The Warrior of the Wildfire jumped. Touma was way too good at sneaking into his fellow Troopers' thoughts. ~Don't you think I've thought of all that?~  
  
"Touma," Ryo began, shaking his head to clear it of external presences. Touma stopped him with a smile and a nervous laugh, trying to brush the subject aside lightly. His despondent eyes told another story.  
  
"Hey, it's no big deal. I know it's from way out in left field. Hell, I don't even know why I'm doing it myself. All I know is that I can't get her out of my head." He laughed nervously. Byakouen raised his head, ears twitching inquisitively.  
  
"How in the hell did this happen, Touma? I mean, she's one wicked Dynasty warrior. It's bad enough that she can pretty much kick our asses, but to have feelings for her that might make you doubt yourself when you're fighting her? Come on, Touma, get it together!"  
  
"Look, Ryo, I can't help it if I have feelings for somebody. It's not something I can control." Touma's eyes flashed as he continued, fuming. "Believe me, I've tried. You think it was easy for me to get up enough guts to even admit to anything like this? In school I've been a freak with a brain ever since I can remember. Even if I thought about liking a girl, it would be suicide to act on it. So now that I've actually got friends like you and the guys, I thought maybe I could talk to somebody about it. Well, I guess I was wrong." Touma got up angrily, face flushed and indignant, and began to storm off into the field.  
  
"Matte! Touma!" Me and my big, concerned mouth. Ryo cursed under his breath as he got up and ran after his friend, who merely shrugged him off and kept walking. Byakouen leaped in front of him, tail waving a warning banner.  
  
"Don't you start, too," Touma sighed, finally coming to a halt.  
  
"Touma, you're being unreasonable. I didn't mean it like that and you know it. I'm just concerned that this thing you have for Lady Kayura might get in the way at some point, that's all. She could bring you down while you're hesitating to attack." Ryo could see that some grain of his logic was working its way through Touma's scowl.  
  
"It won't, okay, Ryo? I'm telling you, it's no big deal."  
  
"Okay, I'll leave it alone. But let me just say one thing, okay, Touma?" Without letting the angered warrior interrupt, he said, "Kayura's not like the Masho. Their armor came from Arago's, like ours. Their power can be good or evil, depending on who wields it. There might be some chance they'll see that Arago's just been using them all along, filling their heads with lies. Sh'ten did, and he's turned out to be one of our most powerful allies."  
  
"Aa, so?"  
  
"So Kayura doesn't wear one of the nine armors. Her power comes directly from Arago, which means it is pure evil. That probably can't be changed. Touma, if she even has a heart, it belongs to Arago." There was a long moment of silence between them, both considering things unsaid. Touma turned his pensive gaze back to Ryo.  
  
"You really think she can't be turned?" he asked, his thin brows drawn together in a serious frown. Ryo shrugged helplessly, rolling his eyes down to stare at the ground. He felt, ironically, helpless. He'd seen the lethal sparks from Kayura's Starlight Swords reflecting in those cold eyes of hers. And that low, sinister laugh...how could that ever be turned down the path of good?  
  
Ryo stopped himself. He'd said the same thing about Sh'ten. What if he was wrong? What if Kayura wasn't really as evil as she appeared to be? She was definitely Arago's puppet, but perhaps he didn't hold all the strings.  
  
~No.~ Even if it were possible, they couldn't afford to risk it now. There was too much at stake. If Kayura got caught in the middle of it and lost her chance at redemption, it could just be chalked up as a minor sacrifice for the greater good. And if that happened and Touma still held onto the hope that he could have saved her...there was no telling what would happen. Steeling himself, Ryo levelled his eyes with Touma's.  
  
"I seriously doubt it," he said roughly, trying to keep his voice from quavering, "Gomen, Touma-san."  
  
Touma looked back down at the ground. Byakouen made a worried, inquisitive noise from deep in his throat. Touma knelt down to oblige him and scratched him behind his ears.  
  
"Are you okay?" Ryo asked cautiously. Touma sighed.  
  
"Hai. I just hate this, that's all. I mean, it's bad enough I've fallen for a Dynasty girl, but to have the tables turned so that you, of all people, are the one giving me logical advice...man, this is almost too much to take." Touma winked slyly over his shoulder at his hot-headed comrade, who returned the favor with a mild punch on the shoulder.  
  
"Whaddaya mean, me of all people...!" The two dissolved into laughter as they leaned back against Byakouen once more, staring up at the incessant golden twilight.  
  
"Oi, Ryo?" Touma ventured after a moment.  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"You wouldn't stop me if I gave it a shot at least, would you?"  
  
There was a long pause. "If it makes you happy, Touma, go right ahead. Now why don't we try and get some sleep before we start arguing again, ne?" He slid down so he was using Byakouen as a pillow. Touma just didn't move.  
  
"Ryo?"  
  
"Hmm?" came the sleepy reply.  
  
"Arigato."  
  
"Ki ni shinai de kudasai," Ryo said with a drowsy smile, "no problem." The Warrior of the Wildfire rolled over so his back was to Touma. The teal-eyed young man lay down on his back, still gazing at the stars which guarded some secret hope for him.   
  
~I have to try. Even if there's nothing in it for me in the end, I still have to try to deliver her soul from Arago's grasp,~ he promised the stars before slipping off into the shallow sleep of an uneasy warrior in a foreign land.  
  
Above him, one faint point of light winked.  
  
- FIN - 


End file.
